"That's been said before. Is that why you came on to me, because you felt sorry for me?"
"I did not come on to you! You were the one thinking all sorts of smutty thoughts about me!"
"You thought them about me, too."
"Only because you put them in my mind! Besides, you manhandled me!"
He raised one glossy black eyebrow, looking me over from crown to toes. "If I had manhandled you, love, you wouldn't be standing right now. I will admit to responsibility for a certain amount of what just happened, but I don't make a habit of engaging in sexual acts with women I've just met."
There was an odd sort of mental twitch, as if his words weren't quite the truth. I tried to peer into his mind to see just what it was he was shielding from me, but I lacked the ability to just go marching into his head as he did mine.
"Well, thank you so much for making me sound like a great big ho!" I slapped his arm. "For your information, I have never, ever had sex with a man who I knew less than six weeks. Minimum! So you can just stuff that in your 'I'm so incredibly sexy, women can't keep their paws off me' pipe and smoke it!"
He tipped his head to the side, a lock of his hair swinging over his brow. "Can you keep your hands off me?"
"Of course I can!" I pushed the lock of his hair back, my fingers trailing down his jaw. Just the touch of his stubble on my fingers restarted fires deep within me. "Look, we had sex, OK? It's no big deal. I admit that it's totally against my character to do that, and that I can't wholly blame you for what happened, but the bottom line is that it's never going to happen again. I don't like you. I don't like men who are prettier than me. And I especially don't like bloodsuckers!"
Is that so? His mind was filled with arrogance as he pulled me up against him, his mouth like fire on mine.
I put both hands on his chest and shoved him back, slapping him before I realized what I'd done.
"Oh!" I stared at him in horror, one hand over my mouth, the other reaching out to touch his cheek. "I'm so sorry! I've never hit anyone before. Did I hurt you?"
Ire flashed in his gorgeous eyes for a few seconds before it faded to amusement. "Unfortunately, I have been struck many times. No, you didn't hurt me, although I do not like to be slapped. Please refrain from doing so again."
"I'm sorry," I repeated, appalled at my behavior. "Really, I seem to be all discombobulated today. I think it's because of this whole weirdness of being in the Akasha."
"What did you do to end up here?" he asked, frowning again.
Even frowning, he was the sexiest thing I'd ever seen.
He smiled.
"Stop that!"
"You're projecting."
"I am not! I never project! And what did you mean, you marked me?"
He sighed. "Why won't you ever answer a question I ask?"
"Probably because I don't want to. Did you leave some sort of Dracula mark on my neck? I don't remember Avery doing that, although he sure gave Jas a whole lot of hickeys that she just thought were funny." I tried to look at my own neck, failing as I knew I would. "What sort of mark is it? Am I going to have to wear a scarf forever to keep the Van Helsings of the world from staking me so I won't become a female vamp?"
He rolled his eyes, and just walked away.
I stared after him for a minute, not believing what I was seeing.
"Where are you going?" I finally called once I realized he was really leaving.
Away.
"Away where?"
Does it matter?
"Yes, it matters! You can't just walk away! I gave you blood!"
Thank you for the blood. Good-bye.